2 out of 5

Creator: Paul Abbott

So if something is a mini-series, I expect one of a couple things:

That by series’ end, you’ve made some point either directly or indirectly, OR, if it’s potentially a pitch for a series, you resolve one major plot point in order to open up another cliffhanger that should get us buying into season 2.  Hit & Miss had me on edge because I’m not a big Sevigny fan (it’s not her fault, I guess, I just can’t get over her as an obnoxious indie-actress-on-the-edge ingenue, even though in interviews she’s totally level-headed and pleasant), and the general set-up – ooh, a transgender hit-woman – reeks of shitty TV hype ideas.

So although they went for the whole show-the-penis shock routine (though I guess there’s no win there, ’cause if you don’t show it people call foul), I was absolutely surprised by how hooked I was by the first couple episode.  Creator Paul Abbott’s concept of combining two disparate ideas in order to draw focus – then spring upon the viewer the actual focus of the series, which, in this case, is a family drama – seemed to work incredibly well.  Mia is a contract killer (contracted by the same person… again and again… several times a day…) who is pre-op transgender, using money from the hits to eventually pay for her operation.  Which her boss knows about and is supportive of.  She finds out that one of her lovers from her man-days has died of cancer, and that she has a kid by that lover.  So she travels out to the farm and meets the fam of 2 boys and 2 girls, who do or don’t take to Mia in various television-interesting ways.

Meanwhile:

-the owner of the farm is banging the eldest kid while also demanding that the family pay exorbitant fees

-Mia starts to date a dude and struggles with when / how to reveal her secret

-Mia starts to run afoul of her boss as her priorities get skewed

-Mia’s family don’t accept her

-Mia’s boss takes one of the boys under his wing

-Mia wants a baby

-A stranger prowls the grounds of the family’s home

…And on and on.  The mash-up has good intentions, but it ends up filling the pot way too much… the surprisingly effective smoothness of stepping into this weird world and feeling for Mia and her clan becomes jarred about halfway through as too many subplots are piled on and start to feel somewhat ridiculous.  Mia responds quite impulsively for someone who seems rather adjusted to her life choices and also makes silly job choices for someone who’s pitched as an experienced killer.  Also, in this small town where the family still lives and we all grow up together, an awful lot of people seem to need killing, all tied to this boss figure.  It’s true that I’m not a contract killer (I KNOW SURPRISING TO ME TOO), but this seems like a rather convenient setup to track down the involved parties, especially since these kills are not even attempted to look ‘natural’.  Maybe there are no police in the small town, but, no, there they are.  Yes, mission accomplished that we’ve forgotten mostly about Mia’s dingle, but only because the scripter (Sean Conway) seems to be flailing about for a focus, slinging half-resolutions to every plotline and then ending it on a stupid ‘wink wink i guess that’s a conclusion’ shot that… arrgh.

This was a highly rated series for me until it fell apart.  But, admittedly, it didn’t fall apart for the reasons I was expecting.  I should say I did enjoy most of it, and I suppose I should mention that the prosthetic penis was well done, and… mostly not overkill.  The blood was enough to be grisly but ‘tasteful,’ though, as mentioned, the kills had a sort of pointless feel to them when they weren’t just shooting executions.

I just have a hard time finding joy when it ended so poorly.  It would not make me watch it again, and not recommend it, which is indicative of my dislike being greater than my like.  JUSTIFIED.